Infinite Loop —

New URL features can make your e-mail productive again

New features in two e-mail clients are bringing your messages into your …

One of the incredibly useful things about Mac OS X in general is the potential for integration between applications. Type the name of an Address Book contact in Gus Mueller's VoodooPad and it'll link the name, offering a useful contextual menu. Collect icons in CandyBar? Right click one and you can set it as your iChat avatar with the option of applying any of Leopard's new image effects. And let's not even get started on the power that AppleScript and its mortal-friendly Automator enable for moving and manipulating data between applications.

It is with this integration in mind that some new features in a couple of Mac OS X e-mail clients deserve a highlight, as they're fairly game-changing developments for those who have to work with mail on a regular basis. First is the discovery of Leopard Mail's support of message URLs, explored in-depth by John Gruber at Daring Fireball. Though the new feature is strangely undocumented by Apple, users have discovered that Mail now supports a system of URLs (yes, URLs can do more than point to porn) that allow you to link specific messages in other applications. For example, you could include links to a couple Mail messages from coworkers alongside notes, pictures, and web links in OmniOutliner or Yojimbo documents. This opens up a whole new productivity world, allowing you to bring your e-mail into other applications that aren't specifically designed to integrate with Leopard's Mail.

To help make it easy for users to harvest these message links (as of 10.5.1, Mail doesn't provide an option, and not all applications create the proper Mail message URL from a simple drag and drop yet), Gruber includes the code for a simple AppleScript at the end of his post. Save that script with Script Editor (found in /Applications/AppleScript/) and call it via any number of methods, such as Mac OS X's own AppleScript menubar item, Red Sweater's FastScripts, or launchers like Quicksilver and LaunchBar. The newest Leopard version of indev software's MailTags plug-in for Mail also provides a dedicated menu option for copying a message URL.

If this integration has your productivity gears turning, but Gmail is your client of choice, Mailplane could offer a nice compromise. As a desktop Gmail browser that allows for things like drag-and-drop file attachment and even an iPhoto plug-in for e-mailing photos, Mailplane is more or less a bridge between the convenience of webmail and the integrated power of desktop clients.

New in the most recent private betas of Mailplane (1.55.4 and above) is a similar URL system for Gmail messages which appears to work on both Leopard and Tiger. Complete with an Edit > Copy as Mailplane URL option, this option allows users to paste custom mailplane:// URLs in other applications to bring mail out of Gmail and into their productivity workflows. Remember, though, that Mailplane is still a browser for Gmail, albeit with the aforementioned modifications and other useful things like Growl notifications and support for multiple accounts (including Google Apps). Since it isn't an offline mail client, you'll still need to be online for a Mailplane URL to connect to its corresponding Gmail message.

Still, these new message URL features in two useful Mac e-mail clients will likely see some official integration love from other third-party apps in the near future. Aside from DIY AppleScripts, apps like Yojimbo and TextMate can only benefit from being able to include e-mail in the productivity mix. Knock knock third parties—how's about it?